Guns and magazines for such guns are a highly developed art. However, the prior art has numerous problems which are overcome by the present invention.
More specifically, gun systems having magazines which have a relatively large ammunition capacity usually tend to extend away from the gun at a right angle to the axis of the gun. Examples of such magazines include drum-type ammunition magazines for light machine guns and "banana"-type clips for automatic and semi-automatic guns. Magazines of this sort have a substantial problem in that they create a substantial weight located well away from the axis of the gun, which creates a moment when the gun is in use, which destroys the aim, makes the gun harder to use, creates more user fatigue, and the like. The present invention overcomes all of these problems as set forth below.
A chronic problem in the prior art of gun/magazine systems that have relatively large ammunition capacity has been that of spring fatigue in the magazine. The more cartridges or bullets in the magazine, the stronger the spring to drive all the bullets out of the magazine. This is caused, where the magazines are pre-loaded, spring fatigue if the magazine is stored for a relatively long period of time loaded with bullets. The undesirable result of such spring fatigue can be that the last bullets in the magazine will not be fed into the gun, or else will be fed insufficiently vigorously to thus cause a jam.
In military applications this problem has been solved in a way that creates its own problems. Basically, in military applications, double logistics are used. That is, the bullets are shipped in separate boxes and the magazines in separate boxes. This requires the soldiers in the field to load the magazines with bullets in combat.
The present invention solves this problem in the prior art as well as providing an improved magazine which permits shipment of the magazine loaded with bullets but with the spring relaxed.
The prior art has also had problems in the area of folding butt stocks. The present invention provides an improvement in this area in that the butt stock folds flat against the gun in line with the magazine, and thus creates no additional problems or unbalancing forces when the gun is used with one hand.